This invention relates to programmable arrays of units, such as digital machinery, in which a subset of connections and functional capability is iterated through the array.
Iterative arrays of units such as digital machinery or computers are well known and have many advantages, including the ability to perform many functions simultaneously, economies associated with iteration of a single, flexible, powerful, mass-produced part, and simple structure conducive to powerful manipulation. Such arrays, and the arrays of this invention, are not limited to electronic machinery, but may, for example, include magnetic, optic, or other machinery. Silicon, bubble, integrated optics, Josephson and other technologies may be employed in the arrays. In digital arrays binary or other operating modes may be employed.
Prior arrays suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages: complex, expensive, and inflexible wiring arrangements, including, inter alia, permanent signal lines running through a multiplicity of units (with the accompanying disadvantages of the failure of such lines, increased noise considerations, and delays in long signal lines); an inordinate number of mechanically performed functions such as testing and fault avoidance; size limitations dictated by the need for packaging perfect arrays only; involvement of an unduly large number of units in the performance of certain functions; and inflexibility and complexity of loading arrangements, including restriction to the loading of many units simultaneously and the inability to reload certain units without reloading others (for example, in the array of U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,160, issued to Wahlstrom on Oct. 14, 1969).